


approximate proximity

by windwhisper



Series: affection without labels [2]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics)
Genre: F/M, not necessarily canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windwhisper/pseuds/windwhisper
Summary: They’re not dating. Not exactly. It's an interesting space, the in-between in which they find themselves.
Relationships: Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: affection without labels [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664251
Comments: 10
Kudos: 87





	approximate proximity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nina!](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Nina%21).



> The same sort of "this is shameless self-indulgence" disclaimer from the previous fic in this series applies here, too. Additionally, unlike the vague placement of the previous fic, this one is set shortly post-Metal Virus arc. What do you mean the arc isn't over? Shhh. Canon only matters when we want it to.
> 
> If you've read the comics you'll recognize that short passage near the start as being a bit of a retelling of a couple different parts of them - it felt like something helpful to flesh out the dynamic I've pieced together for these two.

They’re not dating. Not exactly.  
  
It's an interesting space, the in-between in which they find themselves. Affection and intimacy, without the need for labels.

They haven't really talked about it, either - it just happened, over time, and they've reached a point where it's almost second nature. It happens without thinking, an impulse more than anything.

* * *

"Do it for me?" she requests, her voice a mixture of pleading and playful that she's long since mastered.

"Can't play favorites," he replies without missing a beat, making sure to teasingly wag his finger at her. _You should know better_ , he says without speaking, and the irritated glare he receives in return tells him the message has been received.

They don't see much of each other for a while after that. Enough so that once Amy comes up with a plan to investigate one of Eggman's abandoned bases, he just grins at her. " _We_ sure will. Let's go!"

She protests, of course, with so much to do - but the excited smile on her face gives her true feelings away immediately (as if they were ever really a secret), and he's not about to give up so easily. After all, she needs to stop sometime, if only for a moment, or she'll just collapse.

(The irony in his reasoning will strike him much later.)

"It's your plan, so you've got dibs. Call it a working vacation," he suggests instead of voicing those thoughts, bowing dramatically and holding out his hand. Ideally, they'll get to relax a little and bash some bots - a tried and true method of stress relief.

She giggles in response - a rare sound as of late - and nods. "Alright!" she exclaims, taking his hand, and he sweeps her off her feet.

* * *

They decidedly do not get to relax on that 'working vacation'. Once everything is over and done with, though...

* * *

It's pretty silly, Amy Rose thinks to herself, that sitting here in her own office with the door locked feels almost illicit. It's not like they're actually doing anything - they're not even talking, just quietly existing in the same space. Basking in the fact that they can, now that there's a little less to worry over. Which is what she's thinking about when Sonic takes her hand, the simple yet unexpected action startling her just enough to catch her attention. "What is it?"

She wonders for a moment if he even realizes he's done it, because he's not looking at her, even after she asks. Instead, he's staring at the ceiling, and she wonders if his thoughts are anything like hers were a few moments earlier.

"Nothing," he says eventually. He fixes her with a devilish grin, the sort of expression that makes her heart forget to beat, and she's pretty sure he can tell exactly what sort of effect it has on her so close to her face. "Why, something wrong?"

She's still processing their proximity, with his hand still holding hers and his face so close to her own, as he speaks with that perfectly nonchalant tone of voice. "N-no! Not at all!"

(It's frustrating, really, how much power he still has over her, even after all these years and all her efforts. That he's seemingly starting to realize the extent of it might just be the death of her.)

He pauses, then, to contemplate - and while he does back up a little, he doesn't let go of her hand. A moment later, he looks at her with a frown. "Do you want me to back off?"

"No!" she exclaims, because in that moment there is almost nothing she wants _less_ than that, though she immediately winces at the desperation in her voice. "I mean, no. I'm just not used to…"

"Getting what you want?"

She doesn't have an answer for that, too distracted by the way he suddenly lets go of her hand. A moment later, though, his hand brushes over her hair, gently adjusting her headband. She sighs softly, and wishes they were sitting somewhere more comfortable than this bench as she leans into his touch. It's over too soon, though - as most things to do with him are - and their comfortable silence takes hold once again.

She misses holding his hand, so instead of simply hoping he'll try it again she takes it in hers. She's aware of him watching her with the cautious sort of curiosity she's come to associate with this new dynamic, but he keeps perfectly still - or, well, as close to it as he's ever been able to. "I don't believe you," she declares.

He glances at her, mildly amused and with just a hint of confusion. "I didn't say anything?"

Gently, she swings their clasped hands back and forth, for no reason beyond the fact that she can. "Earlier. It's not nothing, is it?"

"Eh," he shrugs after a moment of thought. "I guess I just realized something." At first, he doesn't elaborate, so she nudges him to continue. "You don't know what you've got till it’s gone,” he says quietly.

She notices that he’s not meeting her eyes anymore. Still, she hums in acknowledgement. "You've never lost me," she assures him, because it's true. "And you never will."

He mutters something in response, too quiet to understand. She nudges him again, and he presumably repeats himself, but she only catches one word the second time - _metal_.

It's a word with many meanings, even just between them, but considering recent events she's pretty confident in her interpretation. She squeezes his hand, still clasped in hers, and doesn't press him any further than that. He keeps talking, though, now that he's started. "When I could barely stand, you reached out to help without thinking twice about it."

"I guess I did, huh?" It was so easy to forget, in the moment, just how dangerous it was; all she knew at the time was that Sonic was in pain and that she had to help him any way she could. It's just in her nature, she supposes, to have not realized the risks until it was too late. But he’d caught on to her each time she tried, and because of that they're sitting here now. "Thank you," she says after a moment, not quite realizing that she's spoken out loud.

"What did I do this time?"

She smiles at him, a faint blush clearly visible on her face as she answers. "Everything you always do. All the things I love about you."

She stops herself there, before she starts spouting every single thought that crosses her mind (a habit she's spent far too much of her life breaking to fall back into now), and a soft silence settles over them once more.

It takes her a minute to realize that he's still watching her with that curious look, and she starts to wonder if something’s wrong that she hasn't noticed. "Sonic…?"

Not a moment later, he's kissing her. It's quick, lasting only a few seconds if that, and aside from being very soft it's nothing at all like she dreamed it would be. Still, it's nice - just not what she always imagined.

And that honestly makes it better, she thinks, that it's real and not quite perfect. It's special in a way storybook romances aren't, an entirely different kind of poetic. Her younger self might disagree with that assessment, but that younger Amy Rose doesn't have the knowledge that she does now.

(More importantly, that younger Amy Rose hasn't just been kissed by the love of her life, so she thinks she has a bit of an advantage on this one.)

"What was that for?" she asks. "Not- not that I'm complaining."

He's still studying her face, his own forming a slight frown. "Does it really have to be _for_ something?"

She blinks at that. "Not necessarily, no... I just always assumed…"

"Assumed what?"

"That it would be more dramatic," Amy admits after a moment. The fear that he wouldn't stick around - that he wouldn't even acknowledge it - remains unspoken, though she's sure they're both aware of it.  
  
Their relationship has definitely shifted, but by how much exactly? He's content to sit and talk like this, sometimes, and other times he runs off before she can even say hello or goodbye. It's a frustrating mess of contradictions, and he's lucky that she loves him so.

Sonic just stares at her, mildly incredulous. "We just beat, I don't know, the _third_ major threat in the past six months? How much excitement are you after, here?"

"I didn't say I _wanted_ it to happen that way," she mutters in response. "Just that I expected it to, if it ever did."

After she says that, there's a glint in his eye she's not sure she likes, one that makes her face flush before he's said a single word. It only worsens when he finally speaks. "Well, then. How _did_ you want it to happen?"

"Now you're just trying to embarrass me," she accuses, frowning slightly.

"No, I really want to know," he assures her. "No teasing. I promise."

She nods slowly, accepting his terms and thinking it over. "There's not much to tell, really," she says eventually. It's true, mostly.

"Now I know _that_ can't be right."  
  
She glances away as she finally answers his question. "After a while, I just thought that maybe… It would be nice if it happened at all," she admits. "But I guess I always pictured us being outside. Somewhere with flowers, maybe?"

"So it wasn't what you hoped for," Sonic concludes, expression thoughtful. "You still seem pretty happy, though."

She smiles at him, squeezing his hand gently. "You always make me happy, Sonic. Whenever you're here. I love you." 

He looks away from her again, face faintly pink.

"I, uh... I don't know much about the whole _love_ thing," he says eventually, meeting her eyes once more. "But you know I'm better with actions than words, anyway."

She nods slowly, wondering what he's getting at exactly, until he answers her unspoken question with an action. This time, when he leans over to kiss her again, she meets him halfway.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure why this one ended up feeling a lot sweeter. I guess I was just in a better mood when I wrote parts of it. It's a lot of little things that won't leave my thoughts, really, but that's most of what my writing is in general.


End file.
